Mary Sjostrom - President 

Mary and her husband Butch have resided in Quesnel for the past 40 years and have 3 children, 3 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.  Mary is a former Licensed Practical Nurse and owner of Mary's Gifts for 18 years prior to serving 15 years on Quesnel City Council including 9 years as City Councillor and 6 years as Mayor. While serving with Local Government, Mary was elected to the North Central Local Government Association and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities as Director and President and is a Life Member of both organizations.

Mary has always been a Community Volunteer and has served on the Chamber of Commerce, Pallative Care Association, Quesnel Rotary, Shiraoi Twinning Society, BC Winter Games, and Relay for Life. Mary is currently serving on the Board of Governors of College of New Caledonia as Vice Chair of Regions and as Passenger Transportation Board Member. Mary served as a Steering Committee Member for the Quesnel Community Foundation and was very excited to join the Foundation Board and serve as Board President. Mary feels that this is a great way to give back to the Community through this wonderful organization.

 Bruce Broughton - Vice President

Bruce was born in Quesnel and is the fourth generation of his family to live in the area.  He has been co-owner of Willis Harper Hardware & Furniture for the past 17 years, and has served as president of the Downtown Business Association for 12 years. 

Bruce was the vice-chair of the Quesnel Economic Development Corporation for two years, and treasurer of the Quesnel Goldpanners hockey team for 15 years.

Married with two sons and has three grandchildren, Bruce is proud of our community and, in addition to hockey, enjoys hiking local areas. Bruce enjoys working with the other directors on the Foundation Board

 Laurie Rice - Treasurer

Laurie Rice, a Chartered Professional Accountant, has worked in the Agriculture, Oil and Gas, and the Heavy Equipment Sectors in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon before moving to Quesnel in 1990.  Laurie and her husband Ed Coleman have 5 adult children that all benefited from growing up in our wonderful community of Quesnel.

She worked for 25 years with School District 28, starting out as an Accounts Payable Clerk and spent the last 10 years as Manager of Finance/Controller, retiring in 2015.

Since retiring from the School District, she has served as Wildfire Business Ambassador and Wildfire Business Transition Program Coordinator with Community Futures North Cariboo.

Her volunteer work includes the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life and Daffodil Campaign Committees, President of the Quesnel Ladies Curling Club, and Emergency Support Services.  Laurie is very excited to have the opportunity to be involved with the Foundation and looks forward to working with the Quesnel Community Foundation team.

 Bob Salmons - Director 

Bob attended the University of Victoria and BC Institute of Technology before going to work in the pulp and paper industry.  He and his wife Eileen moved to Quesnel in 1972 for the startup of Cariboo Pulp and Paper Company.  He held several positions and was Technical Manager when he retired in 2008. 

Volunteer experience includes many years as a coach, manager and executive with the Quesnel Minor Hockey Association, 18 years with the City of Quesnel's Environmental Advisory Committee, Board member and President of the Bowron Lake Enhancement Society, Board member and President of the Quesnel and District Hospice Palliative Care Association.

Bob has two grown sons, two daughters-in-law and four grand-kids.  He enjoys golfing and camping in the summer and curling and watching his grandsons play hockey in the winter. 

  Graeme Armstrong - Director

Graeme Armstrong, a Certified Financial Planner was born and raised in Quesnel.  The ARmstrong family have lived in the Bouchie Lake area since 1921.  He and his wife Trine have 5 children, ranging in age from 9 to 17. They enjoy hockey and skiing in the winter and camping in the summer.

Graeme has worked as a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones since 2008.  He helps local families plan for retirement and the costs of post secondary education.  Prior to this he worked at West Fraser as an accountant.

He has served as director with the Quesnel & District Chamber of Commerce, including two years as President.  For the last few years, Graeme has been working with the Quesnel Community Foundation Investment Committee. 

 Adrian Monych- Director

Adrian is a retired teacher and Principal. 

With his wife Judy, Adrian moved to Quesnel in 1971 and began his career teaching Social Studies at Cariboo Junior High School. He also taught at Quesnel Junior Secondary School and Correlieu Secondary School. While at Correlieu he coached volleyball and basketball. In the early 1990’s he moved to Maple Drive Junior Secondary as the Vice Principal. After one year at Maple Drive, he went to Kersley Elementary as Principal.  After two years he became the Principal of Maple Drive Junior Secondary and remained there until June of 2000. In July of 2000, Adrian became the Principal of Correlieu Secondary School and continued in that position until he retired in June of 2006.

Adrian and Judy enjoy golf, gardening, roaming in their fifth wheel and spending time with their families. They pulled the fifth wheel across Canada all the way to Newfoundland in the first summer of retirement and they always enjoy spending time with their grandchildren in Calgary.

Judy and Adrian intended to live in Quesnel for a few years and move back to the lower mainland. Fortunately this was not to be. They fell in love with Quesnel and raised their two children, Jennifer and Michael, here. “We have found the people in Quesnel to be incredibly supportive. Our community supports a wide variety of causes and readily comes to the aid of people”. 

    Doug Service - Director

Doug was raised in Kamloops and graduated from Kam High in 1965.  While in high school Doug played basketball and started his career as a referee.

While at UBC, Doug met and married Sally; after graduation they moved to Quesnel – both he and Sally accepted teaching positions here, expecting to stay perhaps a year or two.  Their two children, Heather and David, were born in Quesnel, they built their first home at Dragon Lake in 1975 where they live to this day.

As an educator, Doug taught PE, Math, and Social Studies and was a Counsellor at Maple Drive, and Correlieu.  From 1988 – 1996, Doug held administrative positions at Maple Drive, Parkland and Red Bluff Elementary Schools.  Until retirement, Doug continued with his commitment to basketball in 'the North' - coaching both boys and girls teams from Grade 8 through Grade 12, and refereeing whenever and wherever he was needed.  He was instrumental in the establishment of the Quesnel Basketball Officials' Association, and was president from 1985-90.  He received recognition as the Official of the Year from both the Canadian Association of Basketball Officials' and Basketball BC.  In recognition of his involvement in basketball, he was named to the Quesnel Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.  For the past 2 years, he coached his grandson's team at Carson Elementary!

Doug's community involvement has extended beyond School District 28.  He was a member of the Dragon Lake Improvement District and has served as a member of the CRD Area A Advisory Committee for 35 years.  Since retiring in 2005, he has been an active member of the Quesnel Seniors' Society, taking on the President's job in 2015.  Doug previously served one-3 year term as a member of the Quesnel Community Foundation and looks forward to working with this very worthy organization again.

Both he and Sally keep busy with volunteering, travelling, and enjoying their involvement with two very active, very busy grandchildren.

  Brenda Gardiner - Director

Artist, photographer, writer, world traveler, designer, marriage commissioner, mother, grandmother

Brenda has been Project Coordinator for the Better At Home program for 8 years from its inception. She has a background in project management, sales, logistics and marketing, and was acting Band Manager for Nazko First Nation for 5 years.

She feels these skills, along with the ability to think outside the box are the reasons for success.

She won the Courage to Come Back award in 2014 in the social adversity category and was the recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow award in 2017.

She is currently a board member of Big Brothers and Sisters of Quesnel, and is the President of North Cariboo Seniors’ Council as well as being the Community Response Network Coordinator for Quesnel.

 Ed Coleman - Director